Madam, – As part of the cutbacks announced on Tuesday, it is lamentable that the Government did not act to reduce the numbers of junior ministers, reform the system for receipt of ministerial pensions, abolish payments to chairpersons and vice-chairpersons of Oireachtas committees and fundamentally overhaul the way in which our politicians claim their expenses.
In these times of unprecedented financial difficulty it is simply not sustainable for the Exchequer to have to continue funding 20 ministers of state on salaries of more than €54,000 on top of the basic TD’s salary of over €100,000.
Nor is it feasible for the taxpayer still to be paying large pensions to former ministers and ministers of state who are still serving members of Dáil and Seanad Éireann, which is true in the case of a number of politicians on both sides. Former ministers should only become entitled to receive a ministerial pension when they no longer hold elected office.
Similarly, the rules governing the present system by which Oireachtas members may claim unvouched expenses lacks any degree of transparency or accountability. It effectively enables politicians to supplement their basic salary with huge sums of money far in excess of what seems just and reasonable.
If the Government wishes to be seen to be setting the agenda and demonstrating leadership in the effort to restore order to the public finances, it should have started by looking at the extensive monetary privileges and bonuses at the disposal of our politicians. By failing to address even one of these matters the present Government continues to be shown for what it is: alienated from its electorate, insular and utterly oblivious to the hardship its cost-cutting measures will cause to ordinary workers. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – On Tuesday’s RTÉ Prime Time, Minister Dermot Ahern was asked whether he or the Taoiseach accepted any personal responsibility for the mess the economy was in. His answer was that that we must all accept personal responsibility!
The only personal responsibility most members of the public have for our appalling financial crisis is that they voted for a Government characterised by staggering incompetence, greed, cronyism, arrogance and self-interest.
When the next election is called let us all take our personal responsibility very seriously indeed. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Reading Sarah Carey’s column of February 4th was a defining moment for me. It encompasses the true situation in Ireland today: cosy coats for the rich and God help the rest of us. I intend framing this article and watching where we go from here.
She has given us a true picture of this sad state in which we find ourselves to the greed of the few and the naivety of the rest of us.– Yours, etc,
Madam, – Sarah Carey’s column was a revelation. It clarified in words what I have been thinking, in a befuddled way, for some time.
Too many people, in both public and private industry, are being paid salaries that they (a) don’t deserve,(b) never expected to earn, and (c) will now arrogantly protect.
The Government should acknowledge this and immediately pursue serious reductions in these obscene earnings, using whatever influence, power or persuasion is necessary. If it does, we will see the country unify in support of Ireland Inc. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Brian Cowen’s decision to “go it alone” and implement wide-ranging cuts in the public sector could be the beginning of the end for him as Taoiseach and Fianna Fáil and the Greens as a government.
There are already signs that public sector workers are not going to take this treatment by the Government and Ibec lying down. My public sector colleagues certainly accept that they should play their part in getting this economy back on course. But it is evident that the “pain” is not being shared.
What must be resisted at all costs is the attempt by Ibec, Isme and the Government to drive a wedge between public-sector and private-sector workers. This has been going on for the past two years with public sector workers being blamed for our economic woes.
Trade unions must work to ensure that there is a united front against what is being proposed and workers must stand together and refuse to buy the management line.
Here in Waterford workers continue to show a united front in the face of job losses in local companies.The vast majority of public-service workers in this country are moderately paid. Workers in hospitals, colleges, local authorities and government departments do not earn the huge sums of money that Turlough O’Sullivan and his ilk would like us to believe. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – In a previous recession time a Trócaire delegation to the then Minister for Finance was greeted by him with the comment: “I hope you have left your bleeding heart outside!” At the risk of having similar sentiments expressed on this occasion, Trócaire must express its profound disappointment at the scale of the cut – €95 million – in the overseas aid budget which the Taoiseach announced on Tuesday.
Maybe a cut was to be expected given our economic crisis. But a reduction of up to €57 million, along with a natural decrease in GNP because of the recession, would still have left Ireland on track to meet our solemn commitment to the UN target of spending 0.7 per cent of GNP on overseas aid by 2012. There is now a very real prospect that for the second time Ireland will fail to fulfil that commitment to the developing world.
In the Government’s efforts to save €2 billion,was this additional €38 million of aid cuts really necessary? It represents just 2.25 per cent of the savings, but what a difference that money would make to the lives of the extremely poor.
It is indeed difficult for those in Ireland who have lost their jobs or suffered a severe reduction in pay. However, those at the bottom of the global heap are struggling for their lives, having been subjected to massive increases in food prices in the past year and a dramatic drop in remittances from abroad as global unemployment increases. Such cuts in development aid represent an almost unbearable setback and exacerbate the extreme situation in which so many millions of people find themselves.
Once again, Trócaire asks the Taoiseach to set out annual commitments to reach our UN target by 2012. Ireland can rightly claim a leadership role in the area of development aid. We must work to keep that reputation even in these straitened times. – Yours,etc,
JUSTIN KILCULLEN,
Director, Trócaire,
Maynooth,
Co Kildare.
Madam, – I agree with Stephen Collins (February 4th) that Brian Cowen’s performance at the televised press conference in Government Buildings on Tuesday is one the Taoiseach needs to repeat again and again if he wishes to bring the country with him.
Not only was he precise and convincing in all his deliberations but he looked extremely well in pinstripe suit and red tie – very Taoiseach-like, very stately.
Given half a chance – and a bit of encouragement from a public crying out for leadership in these difficult times – I think Brian Cowen could finally come into his own and do the business. I like him. – Yours, etc,
Madam, — At the beginning of what can only be described as a very bloody global economic crisis, can anybody possibly justify Government’s apparent intention to reintroduce third-level school fees?
In these hard times shouldn’t the Irish Government be encouraging more and more second-level school-leavers to go on to third level, to create more skilled workers and to have a ready supply of these educated people to fill positions down the line, rather than make third-level education unaffordable for many? - Yours, etc,
Madam, – As a taxpaying citizen of an increasingly fearful nation I humbly request three things of the Taoiseach:
1. Please communicate directly with me and the rest of the country via a television address, and tell us clearly and succinctly what your long-term strategy is for leading us through this multi-faceted crisis.
2. Please assure us that as part of this strategy you will assemble, in consultation with the main opposition parties, an emergency advisory council made up of the best economic and financial minds in this country and elsewhere to devise and publish a realistic plan for salvaging the public finances. This plan should aim to win cross-party support and must be rigidly enforced.
3. Please report back on your progress in a few months in similar fashion. – Yours,etc,
PATRICK TALBOT,
Thomond Square,
Old Blackrock Road,
Cork.
Madam, – On Tuesday the Government announced another massive cut in aid to the world’s poorest people. This is a huge disappointment.
Here at home the Government is struggling to raise revenue for basic services such as education and healthcare. Yet Ireland and developing countries have something in common. Together we are losing billions every year to big businesses and wealthy individuals who dodge tax by irresponsibly exploiting lax regulation and banking secrecy – the same factors which caused the financial crisis.
Shouldn’t we call time on this? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – In response to Ed Power (February 5th), most nurses are employed by the State, therefore by the people. They assist in maintaining people’s health so they can live and work. They are therefore helping their employers to make money. The fact that it may be “simple economics” for some people to make fortunes relative to others is no justification for it. Some people have other guiding principles beyond “simple economics”. That’s why we have nurses, and social welfare. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – I believe we are governed by a kakistocracy – and perhaps deserve to be. Should this state of affairs be allowed to continue? How can it be changed?
Would The Irish Times sponsor a competition to find the answer, with submissions of no more than 100 words? (The present kakistocracy is too given to pleonasm.) – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Perhaps if I had had the benefit of a university education I would not be asking this question: Would it be unreasonable to ask the USI to send some representatives to Merrion Square to remove the litter and placards left after its protest against third-level education fees? Or maybe this is something we taxpayers should foot the bill for as well? – Yours, etc,